The Z-Strain Trilogy Box Set [Books 1-3]

by Morris, SJ

  I only had three more revenants in front of me, which I quickly dispatched with one shot each. The scene in front of us was stomach-churning. The sight matched the smell, and I had to breathe through my mouth to keep from puking, but that almost wasn’t enough. I would never get used to that smell.

  I could only tell these things used to be people because of my prior knowledge of the creatures. If anyone else stumbled upon this site not knowing what had happened, they’d have thought a bomb full of black ink and animal parts had exploded.

  We took the brief respite from the onslaught of undead to reload and prepare for the next wave we could hear coming. It sounded like the super-infected were the first to attack us this time, and the more decomposed zombies were late to the party. We listened to the slow shuffling and moaning of the creatures as they crept through the woods towards us.

  “I got it!” Stuart shouted as the door beeped open, and he pushed the heavy steel inward.

  “Fuck! Sure as shit took your sweet ass time with it, didn’t ya,” Jet whined.

  “Yeah, my grandma could’ve had that door open quicker, dickbreath!” Arrow shouted as he ran past Stuart and inside the bunker.

  The rest of us chuckled at the exchange more out of nervous laughter than anything. We hadn’t been that close to being overrun face to face by the infected before. The experience was humbling for all of us, I think.

  Stuart led us to a control room and turned on the emergency power. The lights flickered on revealing more of a supply garage than a bunker. The Stryker vehicle sat in the middle of the space, clearly the main attraction. I had never seen a more beautiful tool of destruction. The truck stood about three feet taller than me, with eight gigantic meaty tires built for rough terrain. The body of the beastly machine was a sandy beige color and had latches and other random handles to strap gear on to all over it. The cherry on top was a Stinger short-range air defense missile system in front of the top hatch. It’s two square canon-like towers were a thing of beauty.

  The rest of the boys came over to admire her, as well. All of us were wide-eyed like teenage boys seeing tits for the first time.

  “If you guys are done ogling the Stryker, we should probably roll out,” Stuart chided us, interrupting our gawking at the wonder of modern warfare.

  “Let me radio, Tyler. I’ll let him know we’re on our way and see how they’re holding up.” I pulled the radio from my belt and keyed it up. “Homebase, this is Santa, come in Homebase. Over.”

  “Received, Santa. This is Homebase. What’s your location? Copy.”

  “We made it to our desired destination, and we have the package. We’ll be incoming in about half an hour. What’s the situation there? Over.”

  “They haven’t made it over the walls yet, but they’re stacking up. Copy.”

  “We’re on our way. Radio if they breach. Over and out.”

  “Received. Over and out.”

  I put the walkie back on my belt, and Jet grabbed me into a huge bear hug, chest to chest, bouncing me up and down. “Awe, Santa, what a cute call sign!” He laughed hysterically.

  “Put me down, you psycho. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were experiencing a mental break.”

  “Come on, Santa. No need to get madder than a wet hen. I’m just having a little fun. If you can’t laugh and have a good time during the zombie apocalypse, then what’s living even worth, my man?” Jet snickered.

  “I get it, but I never want your dick that close to mine ever again,” I laughed, punching him in the shoulder.

  “Awe, shucks, Chris. I thought you liked me.”

  Everyone laughed together again. As odd of an interaction as it was, it felt good to laugh with these guys. These were my men now, my brothers in arms. We had each other’s backs through thick and thin, and it felt good to have that brotherly camaraderie again.

  We made sure we had all of the shells loaded with Troy’s serum on board, and we packed into the Stryker. Stuart did his thing, the engines roared to life, and she purred like a lioness. Stu pushed the button to open the bay door, and we watched as the sun peaked through while the gate lifted slowly.

  I positioned myself in the upper hatch with my rifle to give Garrison and Benning cover while they ran alongside the vehicle. Garrison and Benning were heading to the chopper to bring it back to the cabin and provide air support should we need it.

  The area outside was still clear of any zombies. I guess without the super-infected to lead them, the regular undead had wandered off with no apparent reason to hang out.

  The Stryker drove over the mauled body parts of the previous battle with sickening crunching noises and the frequent popping of infected skulls under its heavy wheels as if they were nothing.

  Garrison and Benning made it to the chopper with no issue, and they quickly took off. They were flying ahead of us to radio back what we should expect closer to home.

  With the helicopter out of sight, I climbed back inside the Stryker, taking a seat behind Stuart, who was driving.

  “So, Stuart, how do these bombs work? If they detonate too high in the air, won’t the serum be useless?” I asked.

  “Well, they’re equipped with a proximity fuse that will detonate automatically when the missile gets close enough to the target, or more precisely when the distance between the rocket and the ground becomes less than the predetermined destination. I’ve modified them to explode two hundred feet from the ground. We need to make sure we let everyone in the cabin know to take cover when we start firing because of the shockwaves. Those can be just as damaging as the missiles themselves.”

  “Copy that. I hope this works.” I took my helmet off and put my head in my hands, rubbing my face in aggravation. I hated not having complete control of the situation.

  Stuart turned to me, smiling. “This is going to work and in epic fashion.”

  Chapter 28

  Abbigail Norrington

  I sat with Tyler and Christine in the security room, watching the video monitors. Lilly sat at Tyler’s feet sleeping quietly. Agh, to live a dog’s life, completely unaware of the tragedies happening all around you.

  I couldn’t believe what I was witnessing on the screens. The ‘super-infected’ as Kamil called them, were looking on as the other infected swarmed the wall around our home. They were piling up on top of one another, almost breaching the top now.

  Movement from one of the screens I wasn’t looking at directly caught my attention. I watched as one of the super-infected broke into a sprint for the mound of undead, and when it made it to the top, it looked like it was screaming in victory. Five other super-infected joined the one at the top of the wall, and they jumped down onto the soft grass.

  I immediately picked up the walkie and radioed to Kamil and Chris, explaining what we had seen. Chris and his team were just about in position, and Kamil was upstairs finishing up on the last of the barricades. Kam had closed all of the hurricane shudders on the windows upstairs, locking them up tight, and he blocked all of the doors so the super-infected couldn’t get inside without putting in a lot of work.

  Just as Kamil was running through the door of the video room, the radio keyed up.

  “This is Santa to Homebase. Come in Homebase. Over.”

  “This is Homebase. We Copy.”

  “Seek shelter immediately under tables or in doorways. The shockwaves from the explosions might make it a little rough on you all down there. Expect two blasts at a time. Over and out.”

  “Copy that. Seeking shelter. Clear.”

  I turned to Tyler and Christine, “Stay here and watch the monitors. Keep in touch with Chris over the radio to update him on what you see with the infected outside. I’m going to make sure Ella and Kasey are okay.”

  Tyler and Christine both responded with nervous smiles and a thumbs up. I pushed past Kamil, who was standing in the doorway fixated on watching the odd behavior of the super-infected on the screens and ran toward the medical suites. I yelled for everyone to brace for i
mpact and huddle in place because the bombs were being set off momentarily. Everyone seemed reasonably calm, considering what was about to happen. The irony was not lost on me. We had to shell our own home to save it from the undead threat.

  I made it to the makeshift nursery, Lilly trotting along happily behind me wagging her tail, and found Doc and Jasmine both making baby noises at the girls. “It’s happening. We need to grab the girls and hide under the tables just in case.”

  Doc handed me Ella, and Jasmine held Kasey tight to her chest as she crawled under one of the tables with me.

  “I hope this works,” Jasmine whispered more to herself than anyone in the room.

  The radio on my belt chirped, “Fire one,” Chris’s voice said.

  I looked at Jaz with confidence. “It will.”

  The walls and ceiling around us trembled before we heard the blast. Lilly barked at the commotion next to me on the floor. She was scared of thunderstorms, and this was much worse than any storm.

  The radio chirped again, “Fire two.”

  Everything shook harder this time, and the noise of the explosion was much louder the second time.

  I was surprised that the girls didn’t seem to be fazed by the noises in the least. They were both still sleeping soundly in mine and Jasmine’s arms.

  We waited huddled together for a while before the radio chirped this time with Tyler’s voice. “We’ve only got two cameras left, but they show the infected are dying in mass. We’ll have to go outside ourselves to confirm if they’re all wiped out or not. Over.”

  Chris’s voice yelled over the radio, “That’s a negative Homebase! We’ve got eyes in the sky. Eagle Eye, this is Santa, do you read? Over.”

  “Received, Santa. Eagle Eye is coming in hot. Over,” Garrison responded.

  We waited for what seemed like forever before the radio buzzed to life again.

  “Eagle Eye to Santa. We have confirmation that all targets have been neutralized! Over,” Garrison proudly barked over the radio.

  Jaz, Doc, and I smiled as we heard collective hollers, whoops, and clapping from throughout our home.

  “Roger that Eagle Eye. We are headed home. Over.”

  Doc was watching the girls for me as most of the residents helped Kamil and I unbarricade the doors upstairs. We were leaving the hurricane shudders down until we were able to clean up outside. The foul smell of the decomposing infected was already permeating every inch of the cabin, and we didn’t need to help the stench flow further inside.

  I stepped out the front door, and the sight was just as you would have expected it to be. Rotting corpses littered the ground, and black goo was everywhere. This cleanup was going to be a massive undertaking.

  Newcomers, Bowie and Mace, looked around in disgust with their shirts pulled up and over their noses.

  I went to check on our livestock, and they were all but devoured. A few chickens and goats were hiding in the barn. They had thankfully made it, scared, but unscathed. But all of the horses, cows, and sheep were dead, covered with the now lifeless leaking bodies of the super-infected.

  Finding more livestock was going to be an absolute priority once we got everything cleaned up.

  I took stock of the exterior of the house, the barn and the fields we grew our food in, and I didn’t know where to begin, or if we should even try. Yes, we had everything we needed here, supplies, a small hospital, housing underground, food, and water. But could we grow food here anymore? The ground was saturated with the blood and eviscerated bodies of the infected.

  Had we gone through all of this to end up losing our home anyway?

  Troy and Stuart came outside and stood next to me, taking in the carnage laid out before us.

  The three of us stood silent for a while before Troy finally spoke. “This is not good. Not good at all.”

  I looked over at him and hung my head in defeat. “I was thinking the same thing. This land is no longer viable, is it?”

  “Nope. We have to think of the infected’s blood like radioactive material, and we have to avoid contact with it at all costs. We can’t stay here anymore.” Troy nudged a lifeless arm of one of the infected with his boot.

  “Where the hell are we going to go?” I asked.

  Mace came over to me, wrapping her arm over my shoulder. “Look at the bright side, we’re still alive and hundreds, maybe even thousands of these awful pieces of shit are finally dead. It’s a win even if you have to leave. Hey, you could come with us! Our plan has always been to find a boat and sail it to one of the islands in the Caribbean, clear it of the revenants and call it home. I’m sure we can find a beautiful place with an all-inclusive resort on it and make it our new sanctuary. We’ll be sipping mojitos with our toes in the sand before you know it, sister,” Mace laughed.

  “Yeah, it’ll be cute for those two little girls of yours to grow up looking like the Coppertone baby,” Bowie chuckled as she smiled at me.

  “We might just have to take you up on that offer. I’ll talk it over with Chris when he gets back. We should get everyone together and have a meeting to decide what to do next. This wasn’t just my home; it was all of ours.”

  Everyone else went back inside. The smell was just too much for them to take, I guess.

  The sun was shining brightly, there were fluffy white clouds in the sky, and the birds were chirping loudly. The weather was a stark contrast to the horrors laid out before me, and I realized I couldn’t let this bring my hopes down. Mace was right. We had survived, and we only lost one person to the hundreds of zombies that now lay dead at my feet. We could make a new home somewhere else. We just had to find that place and make it our own.

  Chapter 29

  Abbigail Norrington

  A few weeks had passed since our epic defeat of the undead at the cabin. Chris and the others who were physically able to do excruciating manual labor went out on runs to collect trailers and box trucks to carry all of our supplies as we prepared to move our entire community to new locations. We didn’t know where those places were, but we’d find them.

  Everyone had the list of ingredients and instructions on how to make the serum to neutralize the infected, so we all had the same capabilities and we made more, lots more.

  Troy recreated the technology Brigantine had pioneered with the EMF emitters, and every vehicle we had was outfitted with them. The technology made going out on runs so much easier.

  Stuart led a team of fighters back up to Brigantines compound to collect the supplies from there and brought back two more Stryker vehicles and a few more of the massive trucks with plows she carted her troops around in. They also found a few more survivors along the way too. The vehicles would make it easier for the caravans to travel to new locations safely. It wasn’t optimal traveling accommodations, but at least they were dependable and protected.

  We didn’t have to scavenge for supplies before, so the area surrounding our home was still rife with things we could use. We even found a few more smaller groups of people who had survived the fallout of the Z-Strain virus and the undead.

  Near the preschool we had found Gia, and all of her friends in last year was a townhouse community. We found ten survivors hiding out in the fenced-in clubhouse area there. They were more than happy to join us on our search for a more permanent place to call home.

  Tyler, Christine, and Chase took turns on the radio, tirelessly searching every frequency for anyone to respond that may have needed help. There were more people out there than we had previously thought. We shared our knowledge of the serum and the EMF technology to everyone we talked to in exchange for them agreeing to pass along the information to anyone else they came in contact with.

  Some of our growing group had decided to split up, and a few people from the Wawayanda group were going out west. Some of them had family out there, and even though it was a longshot, they wanted to see if they could find them. They were going to re-settle the farms out there in hopes of bringing agriculture back.

  A few of th
e new survivors we found had worked on trains and were going with them to try and restart the rail lines. It was a huge task, but one we all would need if we were ever going to start living as we had before the outbreak.

  The Union Pacific Railroad ran from New York state to California, so they were planning to settle in Kansas City, Missouri, which was the most prominent hub of the rail line. More tracks split off to the rest of the country in Kansas City than anywhere else. According to one of the railroad guys, anyway.

  Dr. Emily Nasser said she had been to The Stanley Farm Golf Resort in Kansas City for a medical conference once, and it was acres and acres of lush green land. It may have been a golf course pre-apocalypse, but they were going to turn it into a farming community. It wasn’t a bad idea, and I wished them the best of luck getting out there and getting established. I was sad to see Dr. Nasser go but understood that she needed to be with the people she had started this whole thing with.

  I felt the same draw to stay together, which is why it was so hard for me to see Jimmy go with Dr. Nasser, Lynn, and their group.

  Jimmy and I had been through a lot with each other after escaping Brigantine’s compound together, but he needed to be with Lynn. He said she was the one for him, and the feeling was mutual, so they had my blessing. Not that they needed it or anything, but I was truly happy for them.

  Before I knew it, the day had come when we were ready to all go our separate ways. I hugged Jimmy and the others from the Wawayanda group goodbye, and they were off to settle out west.

  I stood in the now empty surgical suite where so many terrible and amazing things had happened. We lost Tom and Justin in this room when Brigantine attacked us. I gave birth to my girls here, and now I was saying goodbye, more than likely for the last time.

  Chris came up behind me, gently wrapping his massive arms around me with his chest to my back. “Everything will be okay. We’ve got each other, the girls and the rest of our family and friends with us, Abby. We’ll find a new home. One better than this where we can create happy memories,” he whispered into my ear as he kissed the side of my head.